


Hope That This is Just Imagination

by nomadicwolf



Category: DCU (Comics), Marvel
Genre: Crossover, Exes, Haunting, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:02:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28208766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nomadicwolf/pseuds/nomadicwolf
Summary: Clint Barton thinks that the little quirks to his apartment are just a result of living in an older building.  Things are bound to go wrong.  Enter his ex, John Constantine who shows him that maybe this issue isn't as cut and dry as he thinks it is.
Relationships: Clint Barton/John Constantine
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9
Collections: Marvel Reverse Big Bang 2020





	Hope That This is Just Imagination

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [moodboard for “Hope that this is just imagination”](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28192905) by [orphan_account](https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account). 



Clint was startled awake by the sound of Lucky barking at four in the morning. _Fantastic!_ Clint had only gotten to bed one hour prior. This wasn’t exactly the greatest start to the night. He walked over to Lucky and pet him, soothing the dog. He glanced around the messy apartment. Nothing really seemed out of order, the dog probably heard something from the noisy city streets that distressed him.

“Back to bed, boy,” Clint mumbled as he stumbled back to his bed. He was back asleep before his head hit the pillow. That is, he _was_ asleep for about thirty minutes before Lucky was at it again. It was just going to be one of those nights.

Clint groaned as he rolled out of bed for the second time that night. That dog was lucky he loved it--no pun intended. “What now?”

Lucky was barking and whining at… nothing. He was starting at the corner pitching a fit over nothing. He wasn’t sure what to make of that. 

“There’s nothing there, Lucky. Go back to sleep,” Clint whined. He wasn’t in the mood for this. He needed sleep. “Do you need to go out? We can take a quick walk.”

Lucky didn’t seem to react to this and continued growling at the corner of the kitchen. Maybe they had mice again. It wouldn’t be the first time, and Clint was sure it wouldn’t be the last. “They’re harmless. Just fight them in the daytime. It’s time for bed. If they’re still here by the end of the week, I’ll call the super.” He shook his head. Bargaining with a dog. Calling the super. He wasn’t sure which action was more comical. The super would laugh and tell him that’s what he got for the low rent and Lucky definitely wasn’t interested in anything Clint was saying. 

After a few moments of them standing there, Lucky seemed to settle and walked over to his spot next to Clint’s bed. Clint let out an audible sigh of relief as he made his way back to bed. Hopefully that would be the end of their interruptions for the evening. 

It wasn’t.

Lucky woke Clint up about three more times before the sun came up. Something was clearly up with that dog. Even if they had mice, Lucky had never reacted so strongly to them before. He’d actually been mostly oblivious to them. Maybe these mice were just more active than the ones who came before. Still, he could do without losing sleep over it.

Finally, he gave up from sleep and took Lucky for a much needed walk. Hopefully this could tire the dog out enough for Clint to get some sort of nap in. Otherwise he was going to be more useless than usual for the day.

It seemed to prove fruitful because when Clint returned to the apartment, Lucky curled up on the couch and was snoring soundly. Clint took the opportunity to lay down and get some shut eye. Hopefully he could get a few hours in before he really had to start his day. 

He was relaxed, dreaming of nonsense when the lights began to flicker. Clint shot up and glanced around the room. _Perfect_. That was what he deserved for moving into a place so old. The wiring was always acting up from time to time. This was a new issue, however. He added it to the list of things he’d never discuss with the super as he rolled over and covered his head with the pillow. The lights couldn’t wake him up if he couldn’t see them.

Clint _naturally_ woke up about an hour later. Lucky was still on the couch and the lights had stopped flickering. It would have been nice if it were this peaceful the night before. Still, at least Clint was finally able to get some sleep. The rest of his day was relatively uneventful. He spent most of it watching trash TV and eating pizza. There wasn’t much need for Hawkeye today, which was a blessing since Clint wasn’t rested enough to be any good to anyone.

The following weeks were similar. Lucky was acting up for next to no reason at all hours of the night and the electricity was running haywire. While the Lucky thing was out of the ordinary, the electricity wasn’t anything new. It was, however, happening more and more frequently. While it was annoying, Clint wasn’t going to bother anyone with this. Worst case scenario he could call some guy to come take a look at it, but that would risk the building. There was no way that this place was up to code. The last thing that he needed was to have to find another place to live. 

Clint decided that he could live with the electrical mishaps, and he went out and bought some human mouse traps in the hopes that would help with the pest problem. If there really were mice. Clint hadn’t actually spotted any of them, or any actual indication that they were there other than Lucky’s late night barking. That said, he wasn’t sure what else it could be and unfortunately, mice were more common than not in this apartment. 

One afternoon, Clint sat down to watch some TV with Lucky when it wouldn’t turn on. Well, it turned on, but no matter what he did, all he got was static. Shit. He must have forgotten to pay the bill again. Again, this wasn’t entirely out of the ordinary, but he could have sworn he’d just paid it. Maybe the cable company just didn’t get his check yet. That happened sometimes too, and in their defense Clint was not always the most reliable when it came to paying his bills on time. He probably would have turned off the cable on him too, if he were them.

Still, it was getting frustrating to go on in the apartment. While none of the issues were a particularly big deal, it was getting on his nerves. The lights started acting up at night, to match Lucky’s outbursts and it was making sleep nearly impossible. Clint didn’t typically need much sleep, but lately he couldn’t even get four hours in without being interrupted. It was definitely unnerving, but nothing that required too much concern. Honestly, it was probably just a sign that it was probably nearing time to look for another apartment. All in all, that would have been fine if he didn’t have to actually put in the effort to go find a place.

Clint _liked_ this place. Overall, he really appreciated that no one ever bothered him, rent was cheap and he was comfortable there. He was able to slip in and out as he needed, the landlord was never on him even if he was a fews days late on the rent, forgetfulness really was going to be his downfall. Still, he wasn’t thrilled about leaving this place behind, even if the quirks really were starting to get to him. It turned out that he wasn’t the only one.

Clint was in the hall, struggling to unlock the door with one hand and carefully balancing his pizza pie in the other, when he overheard one of his neighbors. Normally, Clint wasn’t a noisy neighbor. In fact, he was far from it. The less drama the better. Sure, he’d chat with some of them from time to time… Mrs. Garcia two floors up even dropped off some leftovers for him on occasion, but he mostly kept to himself. However, this certainly caught his attention.

“ _You’re_ the super! You need to figure out why my lights keep going off. _I_ paid my utilities!” Mr. Jennings, the elderly man who lived next door barked.

Clint nearly dropped the pie right then and there. It was almost a bit reassuring to hear the man arguing loudly over the phone. At least Clint knew that it wasn’t just him having these electrical outages. Still, he really wasn’t quite sure what the super would do about it. Maybe it would be an easy fix, and Clint’s fears of the city finally figuring out this place should be condemned wouldn’t come to fruition.

“Between this and plumbing going haywire, I’m not sure where my rent money is going!” Mr. Jennings barked into the phone.

That was different. Clint’s plumbing hadn’t been affected. At least not yet. That was truly the very last thing that Clint needed right now. Honestly, if he could just catch those mice that were making Lucky bark all night long, he’d be more than happy to forget about the rest of the stuff… as long as the plumbing wasn’t acting up. He wasn’t someone who needed a lot of amenities… he just didn’t exactly have anyone he could pop in on to take a shower or relieve himself. Sure there was a communal bathroom down the hall just in case but… he was sure there was no making it out of there without some sort of communicable disease.

Finally he was able to jiggle the lock and get inside the apartment. That lock had been sticking more and more lately. He was probably going to need to grease it soon or break the door down. He was sure that maintenance would just _love_ that. Lucky greeted him excitedly as Clint put the pizza down on the counter. He opened the box and picked up a piece tossing it over to Lucky before grabbing a slice for himself.

He plopped down on the couch and turned on the tv. Static. Again. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting. He really did have to give a call to that cable company sooner than later. They should have gotten his check by now. He glanced over to Lucky and shrugged as he took out his phone and began streaming some videos on there. He wasn’t really paying too much attention to the videos, it was just some background noise to turn his brain off for a little while. Maybe this way he’d actually get a decent night sleep in a few hours.

When Clint got up to get another slice for Lucky and himself he couldn’t help but notice just how cold the apartment was. It was odd. The weather outside had been fine when he went to get the pizza, yet it felt as though it could snow in the apartment. The super must have blasted the AC to get back at Mr. Jennings for complaining. It wasn't Clint's fault that the guy chose to air his grievances. Not that Clint really blamed Mr. Jennings, if Clint was that age he’d probably be fed up with it too. That said Clint _really_ hoped he wouldn't still be living _here_ by the time he reached that age.

As if one cue the lights started going again. On and off, on and off. Lucky started growling again, all thoughts of pizza aside. It was going to be another long night for Clint afterall. He wasn’t sure how many more of these sleepless nights he could really take. Sure, it wasn’t the end of the world, and for the most part it seemed to be more manageable during the day, but sometimes Hawkeye was needed in the daylight hours. Clint was far from nocturnal.

He walked over to Lucky’s leash and whistled at the dog. After a moment the dog slowly walked over to Clint, letting off the occasional bark. Those mice were going to be the death of him. He attached the leash and began leading Lucky out of the apartment. They needed some air. Maybe a nice long walk would wear Lucky down enough so that they could _finally_ get some decent shut eye.

Clint coaxed Lucky out of the apartment and into the hall. As he was making his way to the stairwell, he heard Mr. Jennings again. “It’s happening again! It’s hot as a sauna in here and the dang lights keep flickering. Plus, I can hear my neighbor’s television through the damn wall! I--I already called the super. You’re the landlord. You’ve got to take some responsibility for this, you slumlord!”

Clint shook his head as he led Lucky down the steps and onto the street. He had no idea what Mr. Jennings was going on about. His television hadn’t been working for days. Plus it was practically a frozen tundra in the building the man must have been going senile. He was sure living in a place like that wasn’t much help either. Maybe it was time to start looking somewhere else. He shuddered at the thought of looking for a new place. _Credit checks_. Plus if it was really a nice place he was sure he’d have some noisy neighbors complaining about him keeping weird hours. This was New York. They didn’t care much about the fact that he was Hawkeye. If this was the midwest they’d be thrilled to have Hawkeye living next door, but not New York.

Clint was snapped out of his thoughts as he walked smack into someone on the sidewalk. Shit. That’s what he got for not paying more attention to where Lucky was leading him. 

“Sorry about that,” Clint said as he was still being dragged down the street by Lucky.

“Barton?” An English accent barked at him. 

Clint stopped in his tracks. He knew that voice. Shit. If he was in town, then that meant trouble was here too. He tugged against Lucky’s leash as he glanced behind him. Sure enough, there stood John Constantine. He hadn’t seen him since the breakup two years ago. Breakup. That was a strong word for what it was. It implied that they actually put a label on whatever it was they had. Since the fight. He hadn’t seen him since the fight. 

“John?” Clint asked. “I wasn’t expecting you.”

John ran his fingers through his hair anxiously as he pulled out a cigarette. He lit it and took a long puff before he walked over to Clint. “Wasn’t looking for you, love. I got a call the other evening, someone thinks their apartment is haunted. While I seriously doubt it, business has been slow lately so I told the bloke I’d pop in and check it out. I guess I didn’t realize it was so close to your place.”

Clint raised an eyebrow at that. Really? That forgettable. “If you wanted to see me, you could have just called.”

“Don’t flatter yourself, Robin Hood. I’m just here to do a job and then I’ll be out of your hair. You won’t even know I was here,” Constantine drawled.

Clint shook his head. “All right. Good luck I guess.” He looked over to Lucky who was watching him expectantly. Right the walk. “See you around, then.” He took two steps when he saw John enter his building out of the corner of his eye. Not there to see him, yeah right!

Clint abruptly turned on his heels and bolted after John. He did not want that man in his apartment if he wasn’t there. He seriously couldn’t wait until Clint was out of eyeshot? Was he really that bold?

Clint and Lucky raced up the steps, back down the hall to Clint’s apartment that was… empty. Huh. John was nowhere in sight. Where the hell had he gone? Clint saw him go inside the building. He wasn’t losing it that much. Lucky looked up at Clint as if to say “really?” Clint frowned back. It could have happened to anyone. Right?

Clint sighed as he walked back into the hall with Lucky. Just as he was about to enter the stairwell he heard John’s accent. Thank god he was so animated when he spoke. He was in the building somewhere. Clint stalked down the hall listening closely, he prayed his hearing aids wouldn’t fail him now. He needed to figure out what exactly John was up to. 

Clint heard the sound of footsteps coming from the stairwell. Clint walked towards it, but before he could reach it, he saw Mrs. Garcia turn into the hall, followed closely by none other than John Constantine. What the hell was he doing?

“Clint,” Mrs. Garcia said warmly as Lucky trotted happily over to her. “It’s so good to see you. If I had known you were home I would have brought down some of my chicken for you!”

“Thank you, but that’s not necessary Mrs. Garcia. I hope my friend John wasn’t bothering you,” Clint said, refusing to make eye contact with John.

She looked at him with a look of confusion as she looked between the two of them. “I didn’t realize you knew each other. I called Mr. Constantine to come investigate the issues we’ve been having.”

“Yes, she was just going to introduce me to another neighbor with similar experiences,” John said, with a bored expression. “Do you have anything to contribute?”

Clint rolled his eyes. “Mrs. Garcia, with all due respect, I don’t think the building is haunted. It’s just old… and not up to code. A building like this is bound to have its issues.”

She gave him a disapproving look. “Clint, you and I both lived here a long time. We’ve never had anything like this. Mr. Constantine was recommended to me by my sister. If he says it’s nothing then it’s nothing. Wouldn’t you rather be safe than sorry?”

Clint frowned but he didn’t say anything. He’d talk to John in private after all this. He wasn’t about to disrespect Mrs. Garcia.

“No, then?” John said with a smug smile. He clapped his hands and looked over to Mrs. Garcia. “You said there was another neighbor experiencing things as well?”  
She nodded. “Yes. Mr. Jennings and I were discussing it the other day. He tried to call the super and the landlord and got nowhere. When I mentioned that I was bringing you in he wanted to tell you what he’s been experiencing.”

Clint bit his tongue. Mr. Jennings would complain to anyone who’d listen. As lovely as Mrs. Garcia was, she was also very superstitious. These weren’t exactly model witnesses. Still Clint kept his mouth shut as John and Mrs. Garcia entered Mr. Jennings’s apartment. Clint stayed outside the door, leaning against the wall. Leave it to John Constantine to poke his nose where it didn’t belong.

Lucky sat down on the floor and glanced up at Clint. Even the dog was fed up with this whole thing. When John came out of the apartment he’d ask to speak to him privately and they’d go from there. He was just going to tell John that he was mixed in with the two most unreliable sources in the city and that there was no work for him here. Then he’d go on his merry way and it’d be as though this never happened in the first place.

Clint just wasn’t that lucky. When John came back out the apartment he had his hands in his pocket. He was looking at his feet in thought. Shit. That was never a good sign. That meant that John was believing this garbage. That or he was playing along in hopes of some form of payment. It was pretty hard to tell since he was usually only focused on one thing at a time.

“John, can I speak to you in private please?” Clint asked as Mrs. Garcia also stepped into the hall.

John looked up at him as if he’d forgotten Clint was there. “Not right now, Barton.”

Mrs. Garcia’s face was pale as she clutched her rosary beads close to her. Something was off.

“Where’s Mr. Jennings?” Clint asked.

“He’s inside,” John said, shaking his head. “He was suspended in midair when we came in. He’s resting now.”

Clint’s brow furrowed. “What are you talking about--”

“This is no joke, Barton. You have a big haunting on your hands here, and the fact that you’ve been so blind to it, you allowed it to reach the point where now the spirit is taking action out against mere mortals,” John said, his voice was barely audible, but he was right in Clint’s face. “Maybe we should talk privately.”

Clint gave a nod as he motioned for John to lead the way back to his apartment. “I’ll send him right up to you, Mrs. Garcia,” Clint said as an afterthought. If she heard him she didn’t indicate it. She was just standing in the hall, staring at the door to Mr. Jennings’s apartment.

Before the door was even closed to Clint’s apartment John laid into him. “How could you be this unaware of the situation? You’re lucky I got here in time or your next door neighbor would no longer be in the land of the living!”

Clint shook his head as he sat down on the couch. He still was having trouble believing that the place was haunted. It wasn’t like it was anything excessive going on. There were just a few hiccups here and there. It was an old place.

“Are you sure he was attacked?” Clint asked. “I’m telling you, John, up until that, nothing that strange was going on!”

John crossed his arms. “Pray tell then… what _was_ going on, that you thought your neighbors were overreacting about?”

Clint shrugged. “I don’t know, the lights were flickering. That happens all the time in old places like this one. It wasn’t exactly out of the ordinary. Other that and the cable, everything else was normal.”

“The cable?” John raised an eyebrow.

“It’s not coming through,” Clint said as he turned the television on to show him the static. “I figured they didn’t process my payment yet, again, it’s not exactly uncommon.”

Before John could say anything else, Lucky’s ears perked up as he stared towards the corner. After a few moments he let out a low growl and started barking incessantly. Clint’s face fell, maybe it wasn’t mice after all.

“How long has that been happening?” John asked, his eyes fixed on the corner Lucky was barking at.

Clint groaned, as he put his head in his hands. “About a week or so.”

“Bollocks! Barton!” John snapped. “Would it have really killed you to give me a ring?”

“I thought we had mice!” Clint said honestly. “It’s not exactly a palace, John.”

“Come on, Barton!” He said, rubbing his forehead. “Even you can’t be this daft.”

Clint made a face. “The average person wouldn’t think much of all this, John!”

“But you’re not the average person, Barton! You should have seen this from a mile away!” He said.

“Well next time I need to change a light bulb, I’ll make sure to give you a call,” Clint said sarcastically.

“I’d rather that than you getting possessed!” Constantine said, rolling his eyes. “Are you really telling me that none of these things set off any red flags?”

“They didn’t,” Clint said honestly. “Maybe they should have but they didn’t. I’m not like you, John, my bad guys are mostly flesh and bone, and I can usually see them coming from a mile away. I’m not exactly keeping an eye for the spiritual ones. I figured you had that covered.”

John shook his head again. “I thought you might have picked up on more of these cues since we _dated_. I guess that was naive of me.”

“For three months a year ago, John! You didn’t exactly bring me along on any cases!” Clint spat back. “I missed it. Happy? Can you take care of it or not?”

“Of course I can take care of it,” John said. “That said, this stuff hasn’t been easy lately. There’s some sort of rising darkness interfering and making dark entities stronger and light entities weaker. I’ve got to go do some research before I try to get rid of it. The last thing we need is for me to make this thing even stronger than it already is.”

“What do you need me to do?” Clint asked, rubbing his forehead.

“Keep an eye on things. Anything strange happens, anything at all, I want to know about it,” John said.

Clint nodded. “Okay.”

“Maybe check in on your neighbors. Just maybe not the one next door. I don’t want you pissing this thing off more than it already is,” John said.

Clint bit his tongue at that. If anyone was the expert at getting people riled up, it was John Constantine. Still, he didn’t say anything. If John was confident he could fix this, then Clint would let him. “Fine. I’ll go check in with Mrs. Garcia and make sure she’s all right. If Lucky starts barking I’ll text you.”

“Good,” John said. “I won’t be long. I just want to make sure the cleansing ritual is done correctly before I try anything. The last thing I need is for this to get out of control.” With that, John strode out of the apartment.

Clint looked down at Lucky. “You heard him. We gotta go see Mrs. Garcia.”

He grabbed Lucky’s leash and led him back down the hall. Mrs. Garcia was still standing there looking at the door to Mr. Jennings’s place. Clint stood next to her and lightly tapped her shoulder. “Mrs. Garcia, I hate to ask, but I’d love a plate of that chicken you mentioned before.” Hopefully this would get her mind off of everything.

She jumped a bit at his touch, but she nodded after a minute. “Yes, of course. I saw your friend leave. Is he coming back?”

Clint nodded. “Yeah, he’s just going to get his supplies. He just needed to figure out what he was dealing with first.”

“You never mentioned him before,” she said as she began leading the way towards the stairwell.

“I haven’t seen him in a while,” Clint said truthfully. He rubbed the back of his neck, avoiding eye contact.

“Oh.” She frowned. “I didn’t realize. I thought he was a boyfriend. I know I shouldn’t assume--”

“ _Was_. Once,” Clint confirmed. “That’s ancient history now.”

“Ah,” she said. “That explains why you didn’t want me talking to him earlier. Were you afraid he was going to reveal some embarrassing secrets?”

No. He wasn’t, but if this conversation was going to keep Mrs. Garcia occupied then she could have it. “You could say that. I wasn’t sure what he was doing here and I thought he was going to ask you to let him in to my place. That would be very John. If he left something at my place I can totally see him waiting a few months and then asking a neighbor to help him pick it up.”

She tutted. “We all have an ex like that. Too stubborn for their own good.” 

Stubborn wasn’t really the word he’d use to describe John. Arrogant. Self involved. Those words were much more accurate. However, stubborn did still apply in a way. “He’s good at what he does, though--if he says he can take care of this, then he will.” Unless it’s the hubris talking.

“My sister said he really came through for her,” she said as they continued up the steps. “Apparently there was a haunting at her store. Mr. Constantine took care of it, and she’s been raving about him ever since. I was skeptical when I first called him but after seeing Mr. Jennings like that… I’m glad I made the call.”

They got to Mrs. Garcia’s floor and she led Lucky and Clint to her apartment. Clint had never actually been inside before. It was smaller than he imagined for some reason. Still it was much more nicely decorated than Clint’s. Clint’s place looked like a disaster. This place looked like an Ikea showroom. 

“I can put some rice on for you if you’d like,” she said as she handed Clint a plate of chicken.

He shook his head. “That’s not necessary. I appreciate it though.”

She smiled politely as she sat down on the couch. She was practically curling into herself. Clearly this was taking a toll. Clint knew that the past several years had been hard on people. It was one thing to know aliens were among them… but ghosts… that was adding another layer of crazy for some people. “John’s really good at this, Mrs. Garcia. That’s how we met actually. I thought there was a serial killer targeting people who worked for some mob boss, but in actuality it was a ghost. He took care of the spirit and I was able to do my job and take down the mob boss. I know this is uncharted territory, but by tomorrow this will all be back to normal.”

She nodded, but he could tell she wasn’t too convinced. He didn’t blame her. There really was no “normal” anymore. They sat like that for a few hours. There was silence, interrupted by a minimal conversation.

There was a knock at the door. Clint walked over and looked through the peephole. John. He opened the door to let him in. John looked like shit. His hair was all over the place, and he had some cuts and bruises too. Clearly the spirit must have put up a fight.

“The building’s been cleansed,” John said as he limped inside. “It was a strong bugger, but he’s gone now. Your friend Mr. Jennings should be all right now too. He was just calling the super to apologize.”

Mrs. Garcia walked over and pulled John into a bone crushing hug. “Thank you so much.”

“My pleasure, love,” John said, gasping for air.

She released him with an apologetic smile. “I’ll go check on Mr. Jennings.” She looked back at Clint and gave him a wink as she walked out of her own apartment.

“She’s nice,” John said as he smoothed out his trench coat. “I guess I’ll be heading out, then.”

Clint nodded awkwardly. “Yeah. Thanks for this. I--I would have felt terrible if something happened and I didn’t pick up on it.”

John shrugged. “Bygones. Next time maybe just pay a little bit more attention?”

“I’ll do my best,” Clint said, knowing full well that he’d likely not pick up on anything new.

“If you’re ever unsure… you _can_ call me, Barton,” John said after a moment.

“I know,” Clint said softly. “I appreciate it.”

John cleared his throat. “Well. Right. Just as an added measure, I placed a protection spell over your apartment so… if this happens again, you’ll know your apartment is safe at least.”

“Thank you,” Clint said almost too quickly. “You really didn’t have to do that.”

Constantine shrugged. “Well, if you’re this oblivious to a haunting, I figured it was best.”

Clint smiled a bit at that. “Take care, John.”

“You too, Robin Hood.”


End file.
